House-door letter-box



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. G. MING-ES.

HOUSE DOOR LETTER BOX.

No. 453,124. Patented May 26, 1891".

(No Model.) 2 sheets sheet 2.

A. G. MINGES.

HOUSE noon LETTER BOX.

No. 453,124. Patented May 26, 1891.

m2 NORRIS versus co Puma-Luna, mwuomn, u, c,

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

ADAM G. MINGES, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

HOUSE-DOOR LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 453,124, dated May 26,1891..

Application filed October 16, 1890. Serial No. 368,349. (No model.)

To coZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADAM G. MIN GES, of the city of St. Louis, in theState of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement ina Combined Letter-Depository with Door and Depository. Bell Call, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to an automatically self-closin gletter-depository, in combination with an automatically double actingbell alarm and call in combined operation for both the letter-depositoryand door; and the in vention consists in features of novelty hereinafterfully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure I is a front detail of a door with the escutcheon-framedletter-slot therein and the spring-actuated slide in its closedposition. Fig. II is a rear view, and shows an elevation of the openletter-box, the boxed casing of the automatic spring hammer and slide,and the surmounting bell. Fig. III is an enlarged rear view of thebracket-frame that carries the spring-slide that closes the letter-slotand on which is mounted the bell and its reverbera tory spring-hammer,the shutter being open for the deposit of a letter and the spring-h.an1mer having regained its normal position after having sounded the alarm,as shown inbroken lines, the result of opening the slide and theconsequent action of the ratchet on the pendent point of the trip-leverof said hammer, part of the case-cleating being broken away to show theposition of the ratchet-teeth. Fig; IV is a like enlarged View, theslide being closed and the spring-hammer having regained its normalposition after its reverberating ring consequent on the trip of theratchet-teeth during the self-closing of the springslide; and Fig. V isa horizontal section taken on line V V,Fig. IV, and shows theconstruction of the slide and its position after effecting its closure.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a "door or detail thereof towhich my device is attached. 2 is the letter-slot, through whichtheletters are inserted through said door, and

3 is the escutcheon that frames around said "letter-slot, and whichescutcheon 1s secured to grooves 13, which grooves are formed, inconjunction with said bracket-frame 7, by the projecting flangedcleat-plates 14,which plates lat are secured to the bracket-frame 7 bythe screws 8, which screws are seated in perforations 9 in saidprojecting flanged cleat and are screw-seated in the perforate screws10, as seen in dotted lines in said bracket-frame 7. The saidbracket-frame is so located on the stile or cross -bar of the doorframe, so that one of its open panels 11 registers with the letter-slot2 on the inside of the door and the escutcheon 3 frames around it on theoutside, so as to leave the opening clear for the insertion of letterswhen the spring slideshutter 12 is slid back within the channelgrooves13. The said sliding shutter is normally closed and retained in saidclosure by the spiral spring 15, whose terminal loop or hook 16 at oneend engages on and is held by the button-headed pin 17 on the inner endof the sliding shutter, and the like loop or hook alike numbered on thereverse end of the spiral spring is held by the like button-headed pinand alike numbered 17 on or near the outer terminal of one of thesurmounting cleats 14, that holds said sliding shutter in itschannelgrooveway.

18 represents a knob-pin which is secured in and projects from thesliding shutter for convenience in sliding open said shutter whenletters are to be inserted in the box, and 19 is the casing inside theescutcheon 3, that forms the lining around the letter-slot. 2Orepresents a serrated rack integral with and that forms a surmountingextension of the upper edge of said spring-reactuated sliding shutter,and which rack has a special function to perform in tripping the hammerthat rings the bell, which will be hereinafter described.

21 represents a surmounting curvilinear extension of the bracket-frame'7, integral therewith, and mounted on or near its summit is theperforate bell 22, which is secured to the projecting bell-bearerscrew-socket 23 (which is integral with said surmounting extension 21)by the screw 24, which passes through the perforation in said bell andis screw-seated in said socket.

25 represents the ball-headed hammer that strikes the bell, whosespring-shank 26 is mounted in the perforate reverberatory tripplug 27 inthe perforation, in which is looseseated the pivot-screw 28, whosescrew-tip e11- gages in the screw boss-socket 29, (shown in broken linesin Figs. III and IV,) which screwsocket projects from the centralsurmounting extension 30 of the bracket-frame 7. A washer 31 is mountedon said screw between the tripplug 27 and the screw-head.

32 represents a duplex reverberatory spiral spring, whose outer terminalloops or hooks 33 are engaged on the button-knobs 34, that are securedto or are integral with and project from the surmounting extension 21 ofthe bracket 7, and the middle of which duplex spring is secured by aloop or otherwise to the button-knob 35, that is secured to or isintegral with and projects from the reverber atory trip-plug 27; or, ifpreferred, said duplex spiral spring may be made in two sections, eachof which sections may be respect ively provided with a loop or hook atits inner end like those on their outer ends and alike numbered 33,which loops or hooks are securely seated on said button-knob 35, thatprojects from the reverberatory plug 27, and thus hold the inner ends ofsaid spiral springs. I have shown in Figs. III and 1V said spiralsprings in full lines as attached to near the upper end of saidreverberatory tripplug above its pivotal screw; but I do not confinemyself to that position, for the attachment may be made also by the samemeans, as shown in broken lines in the same figure, to near the lowerend of said reverberatory tripplug beneath instead of above itspivot-screw 28. The construction of said reverbatory spring and itsmeans of attachment are substantially the same whether said attachmentis made, as shown in full lines, above said pivot-screw 28 or, as shownin broken lines, beneath said pivot-screw, and the several parts thereofare therefore alike named and alike numbered.

36 represents the letter-box proper, which may be of malleable cast-ironor of sheet metal, or any other suitable material. preferably made inthe form of an open box, and has an opening 37 at top, through which theletters drop into said box after being passed by the mail-carrier orother party through theletter-slot 2. The said letter-box is secured tothe stile or cross-bar of the door-frame or other object of attachmentof said letter-boxby means of proj ectingbrackets 42, that may be castor made integral with said box, and screws 43 pass through and areseated in the perforations 14 in saidattachment-brackets, and theirscrew-tips engage in It is said stile of the door-frame or other objectto which said letter-box and its accompanying devices are secured.Surmounting said box and the opening thereto is the flanged-coverbox-plate 38, which boxes in the bracketframe plate 7, its extension 21,and the sliding shutter, its actuating-spring, and the reverbatoryspringtripactuating devices of the bell-hammer. The said flangedboxingcover is secured to said bracket-plate 7 and its extension 21 andto the stile of the doorframe or other object to which the letter-boxand its operative devices are attached by the screws 39, which passthrough the perforations 40 in said flan ged-coverbox-plate andperforations 41 in said bracket-frame 7 and its extension 21, and arescrew-seated in the stile of the door-frame or other object to which theletterbox and its operative devices are attached, thus securelyattaching said box-cover to said bracket-frame, and thus boxing in thereverberatory spring-tripped bell-hammer and other devices, and at thesame time securing said bracket-frame and the devices it carries to thedoor or other object to which it is at tached and in its registeringposition in respect to the letter-box that receives the deposit.

Although the front door of the house is the most usual place ofattachment for the letterbox, because the door acts as a reverberatorydrum in the transmission of the sound of the bell-call, yet it can, whendesired, be secured to a front fence or gateway, post, or any otherconvenient and suitable object. When the attachment is outside to agateway-post,

&c., it is evident that the box 36 should be made to extend above theletter-slot and a lid provided to keep out the weather, to which may beattached a lock to keep outintruders. Vhen attached to the inside of thedoor, said letter-box is safe from the intrusion both of the weather andof rogues.

The operation of the device is as follows: When the postman orletter-carrier calls with the mail, he slides back thevspring-reactuated shutter 12, which is readily effected by the pressureof his hand against the projecting thumb-knob 18, which opens theletterslot 2, which said shutter had previously closed. He then insertsthe mail (whether it be letters, newspapers, or packages, when not toolarge, which latter is seldom the case) through the then openletter-slot 2, and it slides down into the letter-boxinside the door,the open top of said letter-box being always ready to receive it.Whenthe mail-carrier withdraws his hand from the knob 18, thereactionary spiral spring 15 immediately effects the spring-closure ofthe sliding shutter and resounds the bell-alarm.

I will now describe the operation of the spring-actuated reverberatorytrip-hammer that rings the bell, with the ratchet-trip that effects itsrepetitious accentuated action.

Now it Will be seen that, as shown in Figs.- I, II, and IV, the slidingshutter is in its normal or closed position and is held in said position(see Fig. IV) by the spiral spring 15.

It will also be seen that when the mail-carrier or any other personslides said shutter into its open position, (see Fig. 1H,) so as to openthe letter-slot to enable him to deposit the mail through said open slotinto the letterbox, then the teeth of the serrated rack 20, thatintegrally surmount said shutter, trip or carrythepoint4c5ofthereverberatorytrip-plug 27 from theposition shown in full lines inFig. IV to that shown in broken lines in said figure, whereby saidtrip-plug, turning 011 its pivot, throws round itsspring-shank 26 andbell-hammer 25, the latter in contact with the bell, as thus shown inbroken lines in said Fig. IV, thus sounding the alarm or call, and afterthe passage of said point of the trip-plug past each succeeding tooth ofthe rack the reactionary spiral spring 32 returns the hammer to'itsnormal vertical position ready to succumb to the trip of the next toothof the serrated rack, and so as the sliding shutter is opened eachsucceeding tooth reiterates the bell-call in rapid succession until theshutter is fully opened and occupies the position shown in Fig. 111.Next it will be seen that when the mail carrier has deposited the mailhe releases the knob 18, the reactionary spiral spring immediately andautomatically drawing the shutter back to its closed position. In sodoing the teeth of the rack on their return travel reiteratingly tripthe bell-hammer by the means already described, effecting a repetitionof the reverberant bell-call, thus effecting a duplex bell-callconsequent on the single act of the mail-carrier in sliding open theshutter 12.

The above-described combined alarm and call bell element or elements ofthe device, in combination with the spring-actuated sliding shutter andtrip-rack it carries, in conjunction with its accompanying letter-box,effects the five following useful results: first, a depository for themail, especially for private residences, to both insure its safety and.-to facilitate its delivery by the mail-carrier, nearly half whose timeis frequently taken up in awaiting the answer to the door-bell and byother hinderances contingent onhaving to speak and be spoken to, all ofwhich would be avoided were there a safely-guarded depository for themail, such as is herein provided; second, the sliding spring-operatedand selfclosing shutter that constantly guards the entrance through theletter-slot from the intrusion of dust and moisture; third, theautomatic bell-call that notifies the household of the deposit of themail or of the morning or evening paper; fourth, the guard that theselfclosed shutter maintains over the mail in the box not only againstthe intrusion of dust and moisture, but also against the worse intrusionof pilferers of the box, for the house-.

hold, who know by the previous bell-call that the mail has beendeposited, are notified by the succeeding alarm of the bell-call that unauthorized parties are tampering with the entrance to the letter-box,except where it is also used for the fifth useful purpose, which is thatof a door-bell, and even then, as the door-bell has to be generallyimmediately answered by some party within, if the bell-call came fromsome party who was pilfering the letter-box they would be at oncedetected.

The device makes a good door-bell, andwhen intended to be so used anotice on the shutter to slide the same to ring the bell will callattention to its availability for said use.

I have shown the automatically-acting spiral spring 15, that effects theclosure of the shutter 12 after opening, as attached to or near the topof the sliding shutter at one end and to the surmountin g part of theframe or flanged cleat above at the other end; but I do not confinemyself to that arrangement of said spring, for it can equally well beattached to near the bottom of said shutter at the one end and to thelower bar of said frame or flanged cleat at the other end; also,although there is a great advantage gained in the automatic functions ofsaid spring in reclosure of said shutter and retention of the closure,yet when from any cause it may be desired to do without said spring theother elements of my invention will work, although less completely,without the same, the shutter in that case having to be reclosed byhand. I

hen the letter-box is attached to other objects than the doorsuch as toone of the front gate-posts or front fence-the alarm and call bell maybe detached from the letter-box and other devices and mounted inside thehouse, and by connection of the usual electric battery and wire, as withelectric door-bells, the trip devices will effect the ringing of thebell within the house.

I claim as my invention 1. A door or other object through which mail isarranged to be delivered, provided with the letter-slot 2, the slidingshutter 12, by which said letter-slot is norm ally closed and guarded,the spiral spring 15, that automatically closes said shutter and holdsits closure after the opening of the same, the bell, the bell-hammer,and means by which the shutter operates the hammer, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

2. A letter-box arranged to be attached to a door or other object, thesaid door, 850., being provided with a letter-slot for the insertion ofmail into said box, the automatically self-closing shutter that effectsthe closure of said letter-slot, the spring 15, that effects saidclosure, the bell, the bell-hammer, and means by which the shutteroperates the hammer, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a letter-depository and bell-call, the combination of the bracket-frame 7, the flanged cleats 14, arranged to provide the channel-grooves13 between said frame and cleats, the sliding shutter 12, that slides insaid channel-grooves, and the spiral spring 15, that automaticallycloses said shutter after open ICC forth.

4. In a letter-depository and bell-call, the combination of thebracket-frame 7, the surmounting extension 21 of said frame, thehouse-door, &c., to which said bracket-frame is secured, the said doorprovided with the letter or mail slot 2, the flanged cleats 14:, which,in conjunction with said bracket-frame 7, provide the channel-grooves13, the screws 8, that secure said flanged cleats to said bracketframe,the shutter 12, that slides in the channel-grooves 13 and closes saidletter-slot, the spring 15, that automatically closes said shutter, andthe knob 18, by pressure against which said shutter is opened,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a letter-depository and bell-call, the combination of thebracket-frame 7, its extension 21, the flanged cleat 14,the alarm orcall bell 22, and the reverberatory hammer of said bell, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a letter-depository and bell-call, the combination of thebracket-frame 7, its extension 2l,the flanged cleat 14, the slidingshutter 12, the spring 15, that automatically effects the closure ofsaid shutter after opening, the serrated trip-rack 20, that surmountssaid shutter, the bell 22, the reverberatory hammer 25,the shank of saidhammer, the pivot-screw 28, that mounts said shank, and the trip-pointof said shank, that is engaged by the rack when said shutter moves totrip the hammer and strike the bell-call and alarm, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

7. In a letter-depository and bell-call, the combination of thebracket-frame with its surmounting extension, the shutter 12, with itsrack 20, which slides in said frame, the spring 15, that automaticallyeffects the closure of said shutter, the bell 22, the reverberatoryhammer 25, the spring-shank 20 of said hammer, the reverberatorytrip-plu g 27 at the foot of said shank, the pivot-screw 28, on whichsaid trip-plug and shank are mounted, and the duplex reverberatoryspiral spring 32, that retires the hammer from its strike into itsnormal position, said trip-plug being engaged by the sliding rack toreiteratingly strike the alarm or call of the hammer on the bellconsequent on the movement of said shutter, sub.- stantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

8. In a letter-depository and bell-call, the combination of the door,&c., to which the device is attached, provided with the letter-slot 2,the bracket-frame with its surmounting extension, the shutter 12, withits rack 20, which 7 slides in said frame, the spring 15, that reclosessaid shutter and bars said letter-slot,

the letter-box 36, the bell 22 and its reverberatory hammer, thespring-shank and tripplug that carry said hammer, the pivot-screw onwhich said trip-plug and shank are mount-- ed, and the duplexreverberatory spiral spring 32, that retires the hammer fromits strike,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

ADAM G. MINGES. In presence of- BENJN. A. KNIGHT, SAML. KNIGHT.

